How to Build Intelligent Apps
Business leaders are increasingly turning to AI to drive faster innovation, maintain security and reliability at scale, and achieve greater operational flexibility. Every application will eventually be reinvented with AI, leading to the creation of new apps that were previously unimaginable. If your business is unprepared, you will likely be left behind. Even if your business isn’t currently leveraging AI, it’s crucial to position yourself to do so effectively in the future. This requires strategic planning and access to a comprehensive ecosystem of AI services, pre-trained models, and cost-effective solutions.
Whether modernising existing applications or building new ones from the ground up, the focus should be on creating resilient, adaptable solutions that can meet future challenges. By developing a robust AI strategy and leveraging the best available technologies, you can ensure you’re not just keeping up with the times but are also prepared for whatever the future may hold.
The Evolution from Modern Apps to Intelligent Apps
Modern applications have already transformed businesses’ operations, enabling significant growth through enhanced functionality and efficiency. These apps follow modern development principles, such as microservices-based architecture and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, facilitating rapid innovation and scalability. However, intelligent apps promise to be a catalyst for even greater growth. The primary difference between modern and intelligent apps lies in their ability to leverage artificial intelligence to enhance user interactions and experiences. While modern apps have set the stage for rapid development and deployment, intelligent AI application development takes it a step further by integrating AI capabilities such as natural language interaction, data-driven personalisation, and accelerated feature delivery.
Natural language interaction enables users to communicate with applications in human-like dialogue, making technology more accessible and intuitive. Intelligent apps also offer personalised experiences that improve over time, using AI to analyse user data and behaviours to tailor the app’s functionality to individual needs. This personalisation is dynamic, continually refining its accuracy and relevance with ongoing data inputs. Moreover, intelligent apps enable faster feature delivery through adaptive AI systems that can learn from real-world usage and quickly adjust to new requirements, making them more responsive than their modern counterparts.
Pathways to Intelligent App Development
There are many ways you can capitalise on the exceptional momentum of AI and transform your applications into intelligent, future-ready solutions. Whether modernising existing applications or building entirely new ones, each approach offers unique advantages and opportunities for growth:
- Modernise Existing Applications – modernising existing applications by integrating AI capabilities can breathe new life into legacy systems. By adding features like natural language processing, predictive analytics, personalised recommendations, and automated workflows, you can enhance functionality, improve user experience, and gain valuable insights from your data. This approach allows you to leverage your existing infrastructure while incorporating advanced technologies to improve operational efficiency and deliver more personalised, contextual information to customers and employees.
- Build New AI-Powered Apps – creating new AI-powered applications from scratch enables you to fully exploit the potential of AI. These applications can be designed to harness the best AI has to offer, delivering highly differentiated experiences. By building on an integrated platform for modern app development, developers can ensure scalability, security, and compliance, while also providing innovative solutions tailored to specific business needs.
- Build Your Own Copilot – building your own copilot involves creating an AI-driven assistant tailored to your specific business processes. A copilot can help automate routine tasks, provide intelligent insights, and assist employees in making data-driven decisions. This custom AI solution can significantly enhance productivity and streamline operations, acting as an intelligent partner in daily business activities.
Each of these pathways offers a distinct method for leveraging AI to drive innovation and growth. By choosing the right approach, you can build applications that not only meet your current needs but also position your business for future success. Whether it’s modernising existing applications, developing new AI-powered solutions, or creating custom copilots, the goal is to use AI in a responsible, scalable, and secure manner to translate data into meaningful, contextual information for both customers and employees.
Prerequisites for Building Intelligent Applications
To fully harness the potential of AI, the foundational elements of infrastructure and data management must evolve. Modern intelligent applications have unique requirements. They must handle unpredictable traffic and cater to globally distributed users who expect fast, always-on digital experiences. The data these applications work with is highly variable and unstructured, necessitating support for real-time ingestion and transactions at scale.
Traditional app architectures and platforms are often too rigid and limited to support these advancements. Traditional databases, for example, struggle to handle geographically distributed and unstructured data while ensuring low-latency access, a critical requirement for real-time AI applications. Developers working with AI need a unified development environment that allows seamless integration between services and smooth handoffs across different stages of the development process. This holistic approach not only enhances productivity but also ensures that AI-driven features are implemented effectively and efficiently.
Following the right steps is essential before modernising existing applications or building new intelligent apps. This should start with training your team, ensuring your people have the right skills to manage change and modernising your processes to integrate AI capabilities effectively. The other key building blocks of intelligent apps include:
- Cloud App Platform – you need an app platform that enables continuous innovation and delivery, supports microservices architectures and cloud-native development, and can scale as apps grow to meet any demand. This platform should facilitate rapid iteration and deployment to meet evolving business needs.
- Data at Scale – for data, you’ll need to deliver exceptional performance with low latency and always-on availability. The platform must meet any demand, from low traffic to massive spikes, and handle unpredictable traffic patterns with dynamic scalability. It should also manage various data types, including unstructured data like rich media, sensor data, and documents.
- Pretrained and Responsible AI – access to foundation models that you can customise is essential. Along with responsible AI tooling and standards, you must be able to deploy these models and capabilities flexibly. Ensuring that AI is used responsibly and ethically is crucial for maintaining trust and compliance.
These three elements, when deployed together correctly, form the essential foundation for building and modernising intelligent apps. By ensuring these prerequisites are in place, you can create applications that are not only intelligent but also scalable, secure, and capable of delivering exceptional user experiences.
Leveraging AI Solutions to Solve Business Challenges
Unlocking the transformative potential of AI requires capabilities to ship applications quickly and iterate frequently. This involves creating pathways for faster, more secure development, empowering developers and employees, and utilising platforms that ensure security and compliance by default. By embracing these strategies, you can harness AI to drive innovation and maintain a competitive advantage.